Kingdom Plantae Genus Aceratium Order Oxalidales | Family Elaeocarpaceae Rank Species | |
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Similar Aceratium, Sloanea woollsii, Agathis microstachya, Argyrodendron, Atractocarpus fitzalanii | ||
Aceratium ferrugineum is a species of medium-sized trees, commonly known as rusty carabeen, constituting part of the plant family Elaeocarpaceae. They grow naturally only (endemic) in the Wet Tropics rainforests of north eastern Queensland, Australia.
Within the Wet Tropics region rusty carabeen trees grow only in the restricted areas of luxuriant, mature, mountain rainforest on the Mount Carbine Tableland between Black Mountain and Mt Spurgeon, and on Mt Lewis. There they grow on soils built from granite parent materials.
Description
Mature trees have fluted trunks and grow to 30 m (100 ft) tall. The leaves occur opposite each other, when new have dense rusty hairs all over them which persist on the underside and the top midrib, and measure 7.5 cm–16 cm × 3.5 cm–7.5 cm (3.0 in–6.3 in × 1.4 in–3.0 in). Near the ends of new growing branches grow racemes of pink flowers, each approximately 20 mm (0.8 in) long. They produce bunches of yellow–orange–red, oval shaped fruits measuring 30 mm–45 mm × 18 mm–28 mm (1.18 in–1.77 in × 0.71 in–1.10 in). Their fibrous ripe flesh smells like ripe watermelon.
Although not yet well known, the trees have some popularity in cultivation, for example in Brisbane.